An average late sowing date and persistent dark weather are causing the sugar beet to be significantly less sweet this summer. In Belgium, the sugar yield is even 40% lower. Moving up the campaign further enhances this effect.
The exact average sowing date in our neighboring country is unknown, but it is clear that it is quite late. Persistent rainfall caused problems this spring. Many beets were only planted in June. Subsequently, it remained wet and dark. From the end of July, the beet can benefit from sunshine, but this has not yet translated into a sugar yield.
40% less sugar
The Belgian news website Vilt interviewed Erwin Boonen, director of raw materials at Tiense Suiker. It is one of two beet processors in the country. The company, which is part of Südzucker, sampled 200 fields at the beginning of August. "It emerged from this that we are heading towards a 40% lower sugar yield," says Boonen. Part of this shortfall will hopefully be made up for this summer, but it is clear that there is a significant yield loss.
Iscal Sugar, which has its factory in Fontenoy (near France), also expects a below-average yield. The company does not disclose the exact amount, but a grower told Vilt that the late sowing date clearly cost growth and therefore sugar.
Second poor campaign
Last year, Belgian factories also struggled with low sugar content. Tiense Suiker processed 3.5 million tons of beet. Although slightly higher root yield than the previous year, the sugar yield was low. The company paid growers €55.91 per ton for contracted tons. Outside of that, €53.47 per ton was paid. This price is based on beet with 18% sugar, while in practice it was more likely 16% or less.
Iscal had a very challenging campaign due to the wet autumn, which prevented harvesting and processing. Frost also caused problems at the end of the season. It even sought the help of Cosun to process their beet, but the cooperative declined.
Early campaign
Precisely because of this weather risk, Belgian factories had decided in advance to start the campaign earlier. Tiense Suiker started as early as August 25 last year and planned to start even earlier this summer. Due to the disappointing yields, the company is now pushing this date back slightly. The idea is that having an early campaign reduces the risk of frost damage.
In our country, Cosun has not yet expressed expectations for sugar yield. By the end of July, it estimated an average of 79 tons of beet per hectare. The campaign starts on September 17, three days earlier than last year. With an average sowing date of April 24, the sowing in the Netherlands is also relatively late, although the variation is large and not as dramatic as in Belgium.
Mars sticks to average
The European JRC estimated 73.4 tons of beet per hectare in Europe last month. This is almost equal to the five-year average. For Belgium, it even predicts a slightly higher yield. In the Netherlands, it is equal to the average. It remains to be seen if the August report will show a different picture.
Above-average sugar beet in Germany
German beet growers were able to sow earlier, which is also reflected in the trial harvest figures. The Franken Rüben growers' organization in southern Germany measured an average yield of 66.2 tons per hectare with 15.3% sugar at the end of July. The yield variation from 48 to 89 tons is large, but 40% higher than the multi-year average. The sugar yield is 10% below average. This is confirmed by seed supplier Strube among others. In their trial harvests - for all of Germany - they achieved 70 tons of beet yield with 15.5% sugar.
The French Agreste has not yet announced the sugar beet yield expectations in France. This year, 411,000 hectares of beet were sown. That is 32,000 hectares (8.4%) more than in 2023.
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